Chapter 1
is the first chapter of the manga and the only chapter of the Fire Hare Arc. Child soldier Jonah is quickly thrust into his first mission upon beginning his new role as a bodyguard for arms dealer Koko Hekmatyar, despite the fact that he hates weapons. Title page Koko Hekmatyar and Jonah. Summary As an F-22 Raptor flies overhead, Jonah thinks that a bomb dropped from a plane like this killed his parents and thus he will hate those who invent weapons, make them, sell them, and use them. In the present in a certain Eastern European country, he realises how ironic his situation is now that he is traveling with Koko Hekmatyar, a young arms dealer. She is taking him to meet with the other members of her squad, but they will not have much time to get to know each other as she has to deal with a situation that has come up. She hands him a pistol and tells him that this will be both a test of his abilities and his induction into her group. They arrive at the hotel room where everyone else is and Koko throws open the door, introducing Jonah. They are surprised that Koko's newest recruit is a child soldier who is also armed, but Koko tells them to calm down and asks for an update. Tojo reveals that their shippment is still held up in port and customs is trying to get a larger bribe. Koko decides to retrieve it without resorting to bribery as it will cost too much, but Jonah's response is just to be told who to shoot. Koko brings Lehm and Valmet as backup. On the way, the Vice Minister of Home Affairs tries to talk Koko out of trying to retrieve her shipping container, but gets nowhere and he ends up threatening her before she hangs up. She then asks Jonah what he thinks of his new comrades, but he is noncommittal. Koko responds that before bringing him on she ran a thorough background check on him and knows all about him, including the fact that he hates weapons. He briefly recalls his killing of Yusuf Gasud and the events that led to his meeting with Kasper Hekmatyar before responding that he hates small talk while loading an FN FNC. However Koko refuses to accept this. In the car behind, Lehm asks Valmet what she thinks about Jonah, but she is unable to form an opinion of him as they were just introduced. She then starts to fear for Koko's safety and complains that this sort of thing always happens when Koko brings someone on. When Lehm lights a cigarette he is reprimanded. When some other cars suddenly pull up close to them, Jonah asks Koko how she would handle a tail, and she responds that she would shoot first. He then stands up through the sun roof of their Volvo and opens fire on the tailing cars, prompting them to return fire. As one of the cars crashes, Koko rebukes him for shooting without warning her, but he responds that only a scout was taken out. The Vice Minister tells a caller that the air force cannot get ahold of Koko's shipment because it contains upgrades for fighters that would shift the current balance of power in the region. He asks that the police not get involved and mentions that he has dispatched a unit to handle the situation, although all will be lost if Koko reaches the harbour. During the chase, Valmet's FN Minimi is unable to stop the van blocking them from Koko's car, so she asks Lehm to bring her closer. A Humvee suddenly comes up alongside Koko's car and sideswipes it, and she recognise her attackers as the Voskhod 6 when she sees their unit patches. Valmet is able to get on top of the van's roof, and when the back doors are opened to shoot at Lehm, she zips inside and attacks. The pursuit moves off the highway and things quiet down until Jonah notices one of the soldiers in the Humvee aiming at them with a FGM-148 Javelin while Koko points out that he called her by her first name. He warns her that they have an anti-tank missile just as he throws a grenade the moment the Javelin is fired. The grenade diverts the missile and it destroys a parked car as the Volvo zooms past. A stuffed toy dog files out of the destroyed car and lands on Jonah's head, causing to laugh when he sees what it is, surprising Koko. She tells him that the gunner will need 20 seconds to reload, but Jonah reassures her as he fires a burst at the Humvee. When the gunner pops up again he is able to hit the man in the head, forcing the Javelin to fire into the Humvee and destroy it. The Vice Minister orders the remaining Voskhod 6 and the Hewlett Harbour port guards to pull back and concedes defeat. As they continue on to the port, Koko tells Jonah that if he were to kill her to get back at arms dealers he then have to deal with her squad. He would also need a gun to do this and she concludes that he cannot live without them. At the port, she tells him that as an arms dealer she can teach him how to accept weapons. When he asks why she sells weapons, Koko responds that she does so to promote world peace. The Vice Minister is later escorted to meet with a Secretariat Inspection Committee, musing that the country is now approaching war. In a hotel room, Lehm compliments Jonah on stopping the Javelin while he prepares a breakfast of fried eggs, as it is a tradition that newest member prepares breakfast after his first mission. With Koko and Valmet also waiting and starving, Koko tells him when he arrives at the table that he is now a member of the squad. However everyone except for Jonah gets sick from his eggs. Jonah realises that Koko's Squad is so much like a family and not what he was expecting that he will stick with them for now. Anime and manga differences *The episode adds an opening sequence showing Koko's Squad and Minami Amada watching a Hek-GG rocket launch from a naval launch platform, introducing Jormungand much earlier. During this sequence the words of , the World Snake, which appear on the title page of each volume, are spoken. *Jonah's introduction sequence is longer and shows casualties of the F-22's bomb. *Lehm does not recall a horror story about a child soldier in after Jonah is introduced. *The Vice Minister is younger and the exterior of his office is not shown. *A scene of Jonah recalling his killing of Gasud during the ride with Koko is omitted. .]] *Koko is not shown calling Lehm and Valmet after Jonah fires on the Voskhod 6. *The fight against the Voskhod 6 begins during daylight and they do not fire back when Jonah shoots at them. The soldiers inside the van that Valmet attacks are wearing helmets, but not headsets. *The Javelin gunner is not reprimanded by one of the soldiers for missing the shot. *The Vice Minister is shown walking away after ordering the Voskhod 6 to withdraw talking to himself that the country must now prepare for war. *The scenes of a MiG-29 is shown taking off and the Vice Minister being summoned to the Secretariat Inspection Committee are omitted. *The scene of Jonah making breakfast is moved to occur at the end of the following arc and the meal is changed to dinner. His eggs make the entire squad sick. Debut appearances Characters Organisations *HCLI *Koko's Squad *Voskhod 6 Category:Volume 1 01